People are spending increasingly more time indoors. As much as 96% of our day is spent inside so consequently, we are experiencing the outdoors less and less. This is an unfortunate and unhealthy trend. Nature deficit disorder, a term coined by Richard Louv in his book, Last Child in the Woods, identifies a result of this extreme amount of time spent indoors. Children are not being exposed to nature regularly and are not making a connection to their natural world. He points out that the children who play outside are less likely to get sick, be stressed, or become aggressive, and are more adaptable to life’s unpredictable turns.1 I want to mention this phenomenon because it pertains to many of my students. Preparing and teaching a unit about what happens outside and under the ground allows me to change this, even just a bit. Each year I have young students who are uncomfortable being outside and interacting with ‘nature’ and students who are the complete opposite, ready to participate in any activities or lessons.
